Destruction's Grip
by Flying Ligers
Summary: Delta Squad must do what they can to save America from the Covenant onslaught.


Corporal John Baits and the rest of his five-man squad bolted down the seemingly deserted street. Moments earlier, the Covenant dissipated over half the city of Los Angeles. Ever since the Covenant laid siege to the human capital world, the last of the human forces have been in disarray.

Baits dived behind a bench, and blind-fired down the road. He felt a moment of satisfaction as he heard a Brute howl in pain.

"Brughes, covering fire, now!" Private Brughes suddenly fired constantly down the road as the rest of the team kept backing up. "All right Brughes, retreat!"

"Aye, sir". The five marines ran into a skyscraper. They made their way up a few flights of stairs before pausing for a rest. Baits knelt on one knee and used his radio to get a hold of Command.

"Command, Command! Do you copy? Repeat, do you copy?" his voice displayed a minor trace of panic.

"This is Command. Delta Squad, what is your status?" they replied back.

"Command, we are trenched inside an unknown skyscraper with an unknown number of tangos surrounding the building. Requesting immediate pickup. No idea how long we can still last out here." No one spoke for what seamed like forever.

"They comin?" asked Brughes in his thick German accent. Baits quickly shushed him and waited for Command to answer. Private Brughes was the backbone of the squad, weighing 270 pounds of pure muscle. He and the other German soldiers were evacuated here right before the Covenant completely wiped out their country from the face of the earth. He was a determined solder that wanted nothing but to get back at those Covenant scum, and Baits highly appreciated him.

"Delta Squad, there is a minor problem," Command chimed. The squad let out a series of curses. "The closest transport to your coordinates has been hit by a volley of plasma, and is undergoing maintenance. How long do you think you can hold out?" _Great. We're totally screwed_, Baits thought. A series of loud noises occurred down stairs.

"Oh man! They're comin!" moaned Tripes, the squad's sharpshooter. Brughes let out a curse. "What do we do now?"

"What do you think?" roared Baits. "Hold them off for as long as you can. Do not let them get past the third floor." He then got back on the radio. "Command, Covenant forces are making their way up the skyscraper as we speak. We won't be able to hold them off for very long. What's the estimated ETA?"

"Maintenance should be finished in a half hour," they replied. "Which means the helicopter should be on the roof in 45 minutes. Be there. Command out." _Great. Just great, _he thought. _45 minutes of this._

"Hear that, guys? 45 minutes of fun. Everybody up the stairs. We need to get higher. Now, move it!"

Brughes peeked his head out the door and saw a Brute and three Grunts march up the steps. "Tossing grenade." A fragmentation grenade was all that was needed to take out the three Grunts and cripple the Brute's shields, which was followed by a half clip of Brughes' assault rifle. "All clear."

The five squad mates made their way up five more floors, where they found a reasonably large room with a lot of cover.

"All right guys. We'll last out here," Baits told his squad. "Brughes, behind the desk now. As soon as they walk through the door, shoot the living crap out of 'em." Brughes nodded and went to his position. "Tripes, very back of the room. Snipe and take out the Brutes' shields. Waid, behind the desk with Brughes, use a rocket only for when it gets crowded."

"Aye, sir." Waid was the demolitions expert of the group. He was absolutely the master of aiming a rocket right where he needed it to be.

"Fisheur, left corner of the room, by the door. I'll take the right corner. Let's do this marines. Hoorah." It wasn't long before Covenant made their way to where Delta team was held up. Two Brutes entered the room. They didn't expect what was to come. Baits yelled out, "fire!" and were quickly hailed upon by 3 separate clips of assault rifles. The Brutes collapsed under their own feet.

"Nice job guys, but there's more comin." Suddenly, the room was filled with the cries of Grunts. What seemed like a hundred of them poured into the room firing their Needler weapons. Two rockets blasted into the center of them killing over half the Grunt forces. A grenade and Brughes/Bait's assault rifles took out the rest of them.

Thirty minutes passed, and the enemies just kept coming. The marines were running low on ammo. Just when Baits didn't think it could get any worse, he heard the echo of a very large creature, but he knew there was two of them. There was always two.

"Marines! Hunters! Waid, get those rockets ready! Aim for the weak spots. Just like practice, marine." He knew Waid could handle it.

"Uh, sir. Bad news. Only one rocket left," replied a very sorry Waid. Baits cursed.

"Tripes! Use your sniper to shoot the unprotected orange spot on the remaining Hunter, and take him out." Tripes nodded. The sight of a Hunter would normally stun any normal soldier, but Delta Squad was ready. Suddenly, the two hulking creatures entered the room. "Now!" A rocket flew into the lead Hunter, completely destroying it. The other Hunter roared with rage and charged straight at Waid. Waid didn't have enough time to dodge the enormous Hunter. He let out a scream. The hunter swung his enormous arm right at Wade's face, when three sniper shots broke the air. The Hunter stopped, let out a grunt, and fell.

"Wade, you just about crapped yourself!" joked Tripes. Wade was still freaking out and didn't quite comprehend what happened.

"Good shooting, Tripes," Baits told him.

"Thanks, corporal." There was a break in the fighting.

"Brughes, check the door. We need to make it to the roof." Brughes then proceeded to check the door, gave the clear signal, and so they all started heading up the stairs. They faced no opposition as they made their way up to the roof. They finally made it to the roof door. Waid approached the door, and checked it.

"Locked sir," he told Baits.

"Use the charges. Blow it up." Wade put the charges on the door and backed up. He then proceeded to detonate it, which apparently alerted the Covenant. Screams roared through the air and they could hear hundreds of footsteps marching up the stairs.

"They're coming!" yelled Fisheur.

"Everybody! On the roof! ETA in five!" Delta Squad ran onto the roof and set up a perimeter. Covenant began to pour through the door. The five marines fired continually into the flood of enemy soldiers, but they just kept coming. Suddenly, a Brute Chieftain appeared with his Brute Hammer.

"Command! Where is the chopper?" Baits yelled through the radio.

"Thirty seconds away. You should be able to see it."

"Okay! Can you tell the gunner to take out the Chieftain? His shields are too strong for us."

"Roger." The helicopter hovered overhead. The Brute Chieftain spotted it and growled as the gunner shot the Brute, who yelled in pain and toppled to the floor. The helicopter landed on an empty clearing.

"Everybody in the chopper!" yelled Baits. His four squad mates rushed inside and gave covering fire for Baits to get in. "Pilot, get us the crap out of here!"

"Aye, sir". Baits then proceeded to call Command and advise them that they have been picked up and are clear.

"Command, this is Bravo Team. We have been picked up and are on our way back to base."

"Negative, Corporal. We have a new mission for you."

"What? Sir, you can't be serious." Baits was almost speechless, as well as the other squad members.

"Sorry Delta, something important came up. Governor Valine has been taken hostage. We need your team to perform a Search and Rescue Ops. Do you copy?"

Baits sighed. "I copy sir. Over and out." _Great. They just can't get enough of us, Baits thought as the helicopter flew to the coordinates._


End file.
